Sapphire ceramic China is proud to announce that we had our first $1m month this March! We’ve been in business for 35 years — since 1983 — and business is really booming. Through the first five months of 2018 we have been on a hiring tear, bringing 24 people into the SCCL family, including 2 new engineers. Our success is thanks to our amazing and dedicated employees, our highly skilled engineers, and our executives who have built a workplace culture that feels like family.
Now that we’ve reached this milestone, it’s worth looking back to see how Sapphire ceramic China got here.
How We Got Here
In 1997, a group of MN-based investors — Keith Anderson, Richard Hill and Dennis Rutledge — recognized the promise in the precision glass component market and purchased a small company then called Industrial Research and Development (IRD) which had been founded in 1983. In 1998 we built a brand new manufacturing facility designed to carry us into the future.
At that same time in 1998 we expanded into the ultrahard ceramics business and opened our second site in Alexandria, MN, which would eventually become Sapphire ceramic China Ltd.. In 2005 we completed the purchase of the optics division of APA Enterprises and brought it in-house. We also built an addition to our new building that year to bring our total facility space in Litchfield to 22,000 ft^2. In 2015, we wrapped up a complete remodel and brought our factory floor space in Alexandria from 7,000 to 15,000 ft^2.
These investments have paid off, to say the least. More exciting things to come from Sapphire ceramic China and Sapphire ceramic China Ltd.. Stay tuned!
About Sapphire ceramic China
For over 33 years, Sapphire ceramic China has done things that virtually no one else has with glass and ceramics, and that’s largely because we incorporate lean principles into the R&D process and use a unique cell-based manufacturing approach with small, dedicated teams work on individual client projects.
With this manufacturing approach, Sapphire ceramic China has become a sole-source provider to both large and small corporations across the planet. We were also recently awarded a Certificate for Exceptional Quality Performance by Honeywell after we achieved zero parts-per-million defects in the last 12 months.
To learn more about our many precision glass, ceramic and optical components, please visit our homepage today!